Moments of Silence
by LoonRider
Summary: They all felt it, dealt with it in their own ways. Sometimes helping someone grieve is as simple as being with them.


**Have I ever said I love Abaranger? 'Cause I do. I really, really love Abaranger. I watched the whole thing with the Hong Kong subs before rewatching it with the more coherent Imagination Station subs, that's how much I love it. **

Spoilers: Through episode 32, set a day or two after said episode.

Content warning: Death mentions.

#

Sleep was hard to come by since the battle. She kept seeing the explosion again and again in her mind, kept imagining what they, what _she_, could have done to prevent it. Even on her way from her room to the kitchen, careful to step lightly on the stairs so she didn't wake the others, Ranru imagined stopping Asuka, telling him that going alone to face Jannu was too risky... She sighed, stopping at the base of the stairs to close her eyes. It didn't matter, because she hadn't done any of that, and Asuka had died and there was nothing any of them could do to change that.

Turning into the kitchen, she took a glass from the cupboard and was reaching for the taps when a noise behind her, a quiet hitch of breath, made her turn around. For a second she didn't recognize the one sitting at the dinosaur skull table, with his hair hanging loose and a white tank top over black flannels, but then she frowned. "You can't sleep either, Yukito?"

He stiffened, head snapping around to look at her, and she was sure neither of them was ready for that eye contact. No sooner had she seen the unguarded emotion on his face then he turned away again, his hands rising to rub his eyes as he inhaled deeply. When he spoke, his voice was slightly rougher than it should have been. "Ranru. I didn't hear you come down."

That drew an absurd kind of smile to her face. "Yeah, I was trying to be quiet... didn't want to wake anyone..."

"I see." He said it so quietly she wouldn't have heard him if the room hadn't already been deadly quiet, and she stood paralyzed with indecision, certain she'd intruded on something he hadn't wanted anyone to see. Yukito never wanted them to see any emotion from him except the ones he wanted to share. It had changed over the time they'd known him. She'd seen his cold personality melting more and more, but this...

Shaking her head, she made her hand finish the journey to the cold water tap, filling her glass and setting it aside to take out a second one and fill it as well. Both in hand, she stepped around the counter and made her way to the chair beside him, placed the second glass in front of him and took a seat without a word. She saw him glance at her out of the corner of his eyes, but she kept her gaze firmly forward and took a drink as if he wasn't there.

Both his hands were clasped on top of the table now, gripping tightly, but as she watched him in her peripheral, the death-grip loosened. He reached out to lift the glass and take a drink, and then he sighed, slowly, as if letting out a held breath and the tension that came with it. When he put the glass back on the table, he didn't let it go, and when he inhaled again, it was shakey.

Ranru shifted her weight, leaning her shoulder against his. He stiffened again, and she thought he might draw away, but he didn't. Bit by bit, his muscles loosened until she swore he was leaning back against her, just a little.

His hand released the glass, lifted to his face again. She didn't turn to see what he was wiping away from his cheeks, instead taking another drink as his fingers returned to curling around the drink she'd brought him. "Thanks."

She couldn't help glancing at him, just for a second, and she smiled, the faint smile of understanding and empathy. "Don't mention it."

They finished their drinks in silence, and even after the glasses were empty, they remained sitting, the mutual pressure against their shoulders a bridge for all the things there were no words for.

#

You know those moments where all you need is someone to let you know they're there while you cry? I feel like that's the only sort of comfort Yukito could handle during this arc. One of my favourite moments in Abaranger is just after they get Asuka back and while Ryoga and Ranru are loud and overjoyed, Yukito's most significant act is dropping to his knees and grabbing Asuka's hand, because he's still really struggling with expression, but these are _his_ friends and he's gotten back one he thought he lost and he's so happy for it.


End file.
